1. Field of the Invention
A safety guard for use wih a woodworking machine to prevent injuries to operators of such machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous types of woodworking machines have been developed. Both cutting and shaping machines commonly have cutting tools which rotate at speeds in excess of 5,000 revolutions per minute. Under stress, these cutting tools may fracture and break or simply become dislodged from the machine. Obviously such high speed projectiles are dangerous to both life and limb. Moreover, an open or exposed cutting tool can easily disfigure and dismember an operator. Thus various efforts have been made to guard against such dangers.
One such example relates to table saws with fixed guards extending over the saw or cutting element. They are movably mounted in such a manner to permit inspection or adjustment. Unfortunately however, for many purposes the guards form an obstruction so that many operations are performed with the guard removed. Moreover, the manner in which such guards are supported from the table make it troublesome to remove and replace. As a result there is a tendency for the operator to remove the guard and operate without it.
Another problem exists where an operator feeds a piece of wood to the cutting tool. The cutting tool will naturally exert a tremendous back pressure upon the wood thereby kicking it rearwardly with terrific force. This rearward movement may result in injury or death.
These safety guards are complicated to manufacture and use. Thus a need exists in the industry for such a safety guard that is simple to manufacture and to use and effectively performs all the tasks of effectively catching and stopping a workpiece which is thrown back as well as the cutting tool itself.